#peppergrass

The butter is made by simply cooking the bulbs quickly in the butter until it browns.

I wanted something simple that would showcase both the wild garlic, and the farm fresh eggs our neighbor walked over the other day. This was perfect.

I found the idea in Alan Bergo’s article (link below ) about wild garlic, but instead of serving it with toast, I decided to use a bed of grits. He used caraway leaves to garnish, which I don’t have, so I used some Virginia pepperweed that I had on hand.

Find:part shade, sun; average to dry soil; roadsides, waste places, fields, open woods, woodland edges, disturbed soil.

Description:Elongating clusters of stalked flowers at the top of the plant, arising from the upper leaf axils, and at the tips of branching stems, with a densely packed, rounded cluster of open flowers at the tip and fruit forming below.Leaves are in a basal rosette as well as alternate all along the stem. Basal leaves are long stalked, spatula shaped to pinnately lobed and wilt away early. Lower stem leaves are irregularly toothed or lobed, 1 to 3 inches long, up to ½ inch wide, widest above the middle, tapering to a stalk at the base.

Leaves become more linear, less toothy, and stalkless as they ascend the stem. Surfaces are minutely hairy. Stems are erect, often much branched and also minutely hairy. Stem and leaf hairs are cylindric to club-shaped and mostly straight.

Edible parts and uses:The entire plant is edible. Young leaves can be used cooked or fresh in salads. The young seedpods can be used as a substitute black pepper.The flowers can be tossed into a salad . This entire plant can be put into a food processor along with turmeric, vinegar, miso, garlic and salt to make wild mustard.Roots can be washed then, crush them and add vinegar and salt you have a horseradish substitute.

The mustard family, Brassiaceae, is an enormous family of flowering plants comprising over four thousand accepted species. As such, members of the mustard family are found nearly everywhere on Earth! The family includes such common cruciferous vegetables as broccoli, turnips, and kale, but also produces seeds in many of its species that have been used as a pungent spice. These seeds have a significant amount of folklore attached!

In Texas, one may find 186 members of the mustard family-- most commonly, the shepherd’s purse (C. bursa-pastorum), the bittercresses (Cardamine spp.), the wallflowers (Erysimum spp.), and the pepperweeds (Lepidium spp.). There are two local edible species I recommend using: the shepherd’s purse and pepperweed. 

Much of the folklore around the mustard seed is derived from its smallness. Jewish scholars compare the knowable universe to the mustard seed to demonstrate its insignificance-- how can we think so highly of ourselves when we are so small, and part of small things? Similarly, the Christian Parable of the Mustard Seed is a story Jesus tells about faith, saying that the kingdom of heaven may be like the mustard seed, but when planted becomes large and fruitful. The Ḥadīth recount Muhammad warning that a person with even a mustard seed’s worth of pride in their heart would not be able to enter Paradise. 

A 5th century BCE Buddhist tale concerns a mother who has lost her only son, and brings his body to the Buddha to seek a cure. The Buddha prescribes that she go from house to house in her village, looking for a handful of mustard seeds to being back from a household that has never lost a loved one. She realises how selfish she is being when she cannot find a single family in her village who has not lost anyone. Death is a part of the human experience. 

Several nations around the world, including India, Italy, and Denmark, have folklore stating that mustard seeds may be sprinkled around the boundaries of the home to keep out evil spirits. German folklore prescribes that mustard seeds be sewn into the hems of wedding dresses to ensure a happy household. In the United States, jewelry incorporating a single mustard seed, usually kept in a glass vial, as a symbol of faith, as in the Biblical parable, or as a signifier of perseverance and hope. 

Backyard Foraging: Poor Man’s Pepper

So poor man’s pepper - or peppergrass - is known as such because supposedly the young seedpods can be used to substitute black pepper. I call fake news on this. The plant itself, both leaves and  seeds, is quite likable in terms of edibility, but I would describe the flavor more akin to a mustardy arugula...not black pepper. 

After drying the seeds, I added some to my ochazuke mix...it didn’t add a whole lot flavorwise, but it totes looked cool.

Here in the American South it’s already in the mid 80°s F by mid morning, and humid. So I moved foraging to early morning and evening. I still felt sticky when I came in this evening.

My goal was to forage a bit more pepperweed (Lepidium virginicum) than I usually would and preserving it tomorrow as I found out the area that I’ve been gathering it from is getting mowed over this weekend. I may dry some or make up another batch of “mustard” or pesto.

I also found a small amount of dandelion greens and beaked cornsalad. Which I’ll probably use on a sandwich or in a salad. I adore beaked cornsalad, it reminds me of butterhead lettuce.

@sagescented no mud left, but I wiggled my toes in the grass.

Pretty enough to put some in a vase until I use it.

Bake two large russet potatoes as usual and then scoop the potatoes from the skin. Mash together with 1/3 cups of sour cream, 4 TB butter, 1/3 cup chopped pepperweed (woody stems removed), and salt and pepper to taste.

Return mashed potatoes to skins and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake in oven at 450° for twenty minutes.

I really packed in the pepperweed, but you could use less. I find the horseradish/wasabi like flavor fairly mild so I use a lot. But I like a punch with both wasabi and horseradish. 😉

Based on this recipe: